Chicago Workers Demonstrate Power of the Takeover Strike
THE TAKEOVER STRIKE has long been a function of Latin American worker solidarity. Occupying schools and workplaces when injustice is doled out is a regular function south of the border. We’ve seen it from Puerto Rico to México, from Tlaltelolco to Oaxaca. Today, we see it in Chicago, USA…
IT’S A BIT INFURIATING to see the same old dynamics play out in the country, especially with a brand new set of circumstances. That is to say, the top dogs get away with murder and the little gals and guys take the blame and get the shaft. So it was with a Chicago factory and its workers until they decided to get all united about things and flip the script, 1930s solidarity style:
Chicago – Workers who got three days’ notice their factory was shutting its doors voted to occupy the building and say they won’t go home without assurances they’ll get severance and vacation pay they say they are owed.
In the second day of a sit-in on the factory floor Saturday, about 200 union workers occupied the building in shifts while union leaders outside criticized a Wall Street bailout they say is leaving laborers behind.
About 50 workers sat on pallets and chairs inside the Republic Windows and Doors plant. Leah Fried, an organizer with the United Electrical Workers, said the Chicago-based vinyl window manufacturer failed to give 60 days’ notice required by law before shutting down.
During the takeover, workers have been shoveling snow and cleaning the building, Fried said.
”We’re doing something we haven’t since the 1930s, so we’re trying to make it work,” Fried said.
Organizers of the action said the company can’t pay employees because its creditor, Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, won’t let them. Crain’s Chicago Business reported that Republic Windows’ monthly sales had fallen to $2.9 million from $4 million during the past month. In a memo to the union, obtained by the business journal, Republic CEO Rich Gillman said the company had “no choice but to shut our doors.”
Bank of America received $25 billion from the government’s financial bailout package.
”Across cultures, religions, union and nonunion, we all say this bailout was a shame,” said Richard Berg, president of Teamsters Local 743. “If this bailout should go to anything, it should go to the workers of this country.”
Outside the plant, protesters wore stickers and carried signs that said, “You got bailed out, we got sold out.”
Wild stuff! The story has developed quickly over the day. So much so that a single NYTimes link kept changing their entire page, headline and all (Is this the norm now? Are we total Memory Hole style now?) Here’s copy from the first iteration:
Workers were angered when company officials didn’t show up for a meeting Friday that had been arranged by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Chicago Democrat, Fried said. Union officials said another meeting with the company is scheduled for Monday afternoon.
”We’re going to stay here until we win justice,” said Blanca Funes, 55, of Chicago, after occupying the building for several hours. Speaking in Spanish, Funes said she fears losing her home without the wages she feels she’s owed. A 13-year employee of Republic, she estimated her family can make do for three months without her paycheck. Most of the factory’s workers are Hispanic.
Oddly, when I went back to check later, it had completely changed to this [click for full size to pop up in new window]:
And the current version gives us this encouraging news:
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago workers in the third day of a sit-in on the floor of their former workplace peered through the windows of a door Sunday, amazed by a mix of supporters, politicians and journalists who packed a foyer outside.
”We never expected this,” said Melvin Maclin, a factory employee and vice president of the local union that represents the workers. ”We expected to go to jail.”
The 200 workers demanding severance and vacation pay have become a national symbol for thousands of employees laid off nationwide as the economy continues to sour. They occupied the plant of their former employer, Republic Windows and Doors, after the company abruptly fired them last week.
At a news conference Sunday, President-elect Barack Obama said Republic should follow through on its commitments to its workers.
”The workers who are asking for the benefits and payments that they have earned, I think they’re absolutely right and understand that what’s happening to them is reflective of what’s happening across this economy,” Obama said.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson delivered turkeys to the workers, pledging the support of his Chicago-based civil rights group, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
”These workers deserve their wages, deserve fair notice, deserve health security,” Jackson said. ”This may be the beginning of long struggle of worker resistance finally.”
Go read before they change it again!
Anyway, yes. I think it should be and hope it is the beginning of a united worker resistance. Enough of the proles sweating so that the fatcats can buy house number nine and then tell us, gee, they don’t know what happened to the money. At least we need a united worker resistance here in the modern day USA. La Mala and I were just talking this morning about how this type of strike has long been a function of Latin American worker solidarity. Occupying schools and workplaces when injustice is doled out. We’ve seen it from Puerto Rico to México, from Tlaltelolco to Oaxaca. And yes, sometimes the State chooses to mow you down or starve you out. And thus, even in the face of those risks, some choose to stand up (or sit down) for what is right. Which is why I’ve written often about my pride in Mexican@s and how they understand the power of putting your body where your beliefs are.
But ya better keep that last part quiet! As quiet as erasing the words ‘most of the factory’s workers are Hispanic’ from the story…
Thanks to Democommie for the headsup, as well as the info here. Foto from here.
Tags: Bailout, Bank of America, Chicago, Jesse Jackson, Luis Gutierrez, Mexicans, Oaxaca, Republic Windows and Doors, RIchard Berg, Sit Down Strike, Takeover Strike, Teamsters Local 743, Tlatelolco, United Electrical Workers, Workers
Posted in Class War, Economy, Human Rights, Latinos, Mexico, Oaxaca, Raza, Strikes, Marches, Parades, and Protests
[...] details: Chicago Workers Demonstrate Power of the Takeover Strike | The … [...]
IT’S AWESOME!!! Haven’t seen such workers consciousness in the USA since the days of the UMW strikes!!! (((cries in wonderment))))
I was glad to hear Obama voice his support of these workers. I hope they get every bit of what they’re owed and I hope the owners of this company get properly disciplined or fined. When I first heard this story I could not understand that they thought they could even get away with this – but the fact is – they would have gotten away with it if these workers hadn’t stood up. Kudos to all of them.
I’m still waiting for a mainstream news source to even mention that this kind of takeover action is a current practice all over America (–oh, wait, but by ‘America’ they mean the ‘U.S.’, right, so i guess they don’t count!?). Anyway, I immediately thought of Argentina and the factory takeovers happening there.
[...] Nezua at The Unapologetic Mexican writes a little about “how this type of strike has long been a function of Latin American worker solidarity” and also points out some of the ways that The New York Times coverage of the story quietly continues to change (their first on-line publication noted that “Most of the factory’s workers are Hispanic.”) Hmm. [...]
[...] by Jack Stephens on December 9, 2008 Nezua blogs: T’S A BIT INFURIATING to see the same old dynamics play out in the country, especially with a [...]
[...] blogs: T’S A BIT INFURIATING to see the same old dynamics play out in the country, especially with a [...]
[...] blogs: T’S A BIT INFURIATING to see the same old dynamics play out in the country, especially with a [...]
Nezua:
Actually, the last time I saw a major labor rally in Boston it was all of the hispanics from the SEIU who were marching in the financial district, blowing their whistles and chanting their slogans. They had little or no backing from the mainstream unions in Boston. At least in Boston, the cops didn’t lay into them with nightsticks and firehoses.
First thing I noticed were the names. I organized in Califas for four years (grassroots, community based) and worked with several solid Chicano comrades. I’m glad for the Chicago workers, glad they stood up to the bloodsuckers and hope to see more fighting workers around the country.
if Bank of America recieved 25 billion dollars, some of it can go to these workers. Isn’t that what we gave them money for? What are they using it for? It’s our tax money, we deserve to know. This pisses me off.